Disabled car park at Assembly Rooms to close on September 5
The car park between Tamworth Assembly Rooms, the Carnegie Centre and Tamworth Library is to close permanently on Monday September 5.
The eight spaces, which are only for the use of Blue Badge holders, are being closed to allow archaeological works to take place ahead of the restoration and redevelopment of Tamworth Assembly Rooms.
Drivers who currently use the car park are being reminded that a number of new disabled spaces have been created in the Aldergate car park, after Blue Badge holders said they wanted to see more disabled parking in the town centre.
Two permanent disabled spaces have been added to the two existing spaces in the Aldergate car park. In addition, 10 part-time disabled spaces have been created close to the Philip Dix Centre. These spaces are available to Blue Badge holders ONLY from 6pm in the evening and all day at weekends. They are available for general use during weekdays.
A further 14 disabled spaces have also been created at the car parks in Hospital Street, Church Lane and Spinning School Lane, with work ongoing with Staffordshire County Council to identify the possibility of creating further on street parking spaces.
Blue Badge holders are also being reminded that they can park in any of the spaces in Tamworth Borough Council’s car parks completely free of charge at any time, as long as the Blue Badge is correctly displayed.
New disabled spaces for use by Blue Badge holders have been created in:
• Aldergate car park – 4 permanent spaces and 10 dual-use spaces available to Blue Badge holders ONLY from 6pm evenings and all day at weekends
• Church Lane car park – 4 spaces
• Hospital Street car park – 2 spaces
• Spinning School Lane car park – 8 spaces
Cllr Steve Claymore, Cabinet member for Regeneration, said: “We have worked closely with those Blue Badge holders who use this car park and have listened to their views to ensure that extra disabled parking is provided where it is most needed.
“Tamworth Borough Council is committed to providing free accessible parking for Blue Badge holders in the town centre through the provision of dedicated bays in off-street car parks and the free use of all off-street parking.
“We always promised to provide more new disabled parking spaces in the town centre than will be lost due to the works to Tamworth Assembly Rooms and those spaces are now available. We have no option but to close this car park to allow the vital works to be carried out and are very grateful to the Blue Badge holders for working with us to identify the best places for disabled spaces to be created.”
The archaeological works are being carried out ahead of the start of building works to restore and extend Tamworth Assembly Rooms, as well as improvements to Tamworth Library and the creation of a new public space. The works are part of the ambitious £6.1 million project to regenerate Tamworth town centre with the creation of an Enterprise Quarter.
The development of the Enterprise Quarter will also include the transformation of the Philip Dix Centre into a Business and Enterprise Centre and the redevelopment of the Carnegie Centre as a restaurant.
The project - a partnership initiative led by Tamworth Borough Council and Staffordshire County Council – is expected to create around 100 jobs and attract additional private investment. An independent economic impact assessment which was carried out ahead of the funding bid showed that the development of an Enterprise Quarter could potentially add £13 million to the town’s economy by 2019.
